Dietitians Day…a week late

In my eagerness to answer last week’s question posed by a reader, I missed an important day for myself and every other dietitian in Canada…Dietitian’s Day!

During Nutrition Month in March, Dietitians Day is celebrated on March 15th. It’s a day meant to celebrate the work dietitians do as health care professionals helping Canadians shop, choose, prepare and eat healthier foods.

According to a news release from the Dietitians of Canada, contributions by dietitians in a variety of roles help serve Canadians. Here are some of those roles:

Creating healthier food environments: Dietitians help make the healthier choice the easier choice in schools and communities. They can do this by working with policy makers and the food industry.

Preventing malnutrition: Malnutrition can lead to longer hospital stays and increased health care costs. Dietitians conduct research and develop screening tools to better identify, prevent and treat malnutrition. They also advocate for and influence policy to tackle causes like food insecurity, which currently affects one in eight Canadian households.

Providing credible nutrition information: Dietitians provide evidence-based food and nutrition information in the media and online. They do this through workshops and employee health programs.

Educating the next generation of dietitians: Dietitians teach clinical skills in innovative ways, developing programs for internationally educated practitioners and providing opportunities for hands on experience in diverse areas, such as food service management, public health, primary care and sports nutrition.
Adapted from How Canadian Dietitians Take the Fight out of Food, http://www.dietitians.ca/Media/News-Releases/2017/DietitiansDay2017.aspx.

Dietitians of Canada can help you locate a dietitian for nutrition counselling and nutrition services at www.dietitians.ca/find.

To all my fellow dietitians out there…Happy Belated Dietitians Day!

If you have any nutrition topics you would like me to write about or have a question you would like answered, email me at thedishonlcn@gmail.com. I would really like to hear from you!